By Chance and By Choice
by Vytina
Summary: Calling them your sibling is a matter of chance. Calling them your friend is a matter of choice.


**A/N: Because the relationship between Jack and Melanie doesn't get enough love, I decided to produce another piece of pure sibling love. This doesn't necessarily take place before, during, or after any episode, but if you haven't seen "King's Ransom", you might be a little confused by this piece. Otherwise, it's fairly straight forward. Short and sweet, if I do say so myself.**

**Title: By Chance and By Choice**

**Summary: Calling them your sibling is a matter of chance. Calling them your friend is a matter of choice.**

**Characters: Jack Walker and Melanie Walker**

**Rating: K+**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters related to Batman Beyond. I own only the idea for this story.**

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><p>"<em>A sibling may be the keeper of one's identity, the only person with the keys to one's unfettered, more fundamental self." ~ Marian Sandmaier<em>

The autumn air grew cold as night fell in Gotham, and as the wind coiled around her, Melanie found it necessary to pull her jacket closer. Shifting in place, she looked back at the figure locking up the restaurant's back door. When her companion turned to face her again, it was with a solemn expression. A expression that brought to light all the bone-deep weariness and emotional exhaustion that she herself had once endured. She still suffered with it every now and then—being a waitress in a cheap-paying restaurant would take a toll on anyone's emotional health—but Jack suffered with it the most. She could see it on his face, in his stance, and in his eyes.

She knew why he was so miserable—and there was no other word for it, really. She would have been a fool to _not_ know the reason. Abruptly ceasing a life steeped in criminal behavior had been no happy change for _her_, let alone him. Seventeen years of being a member of a notorious criminal family. Seventeen years of living a life in plush hotels and lavish manors, thanks to her family's alternative ways of obtaining wealth and status. Seventeen years of being Ten, not Melanie Walker. Seventeen years of being a master thief, and just one year of being a law-abiding citizen. It hadn't been an easy transition, to say the least.

But Jack had five years on her. Five additional years of being a part of the family, and living with more expectations than herself. He had been born to one day become King, and their parents had seen that he never forgot it. Being known as "Jack" had been only temporary; soon, he was to be "King" and he would need to seek out a fitting Queen. The burden of claiming the crown and finding a suitable mate had been on her shoulders as well, but it had always seemed more prominent in her brother's life than her own. Maybe it was just because of the age difference, or maybe because she had always distanced herself from the family from the beginning. Jack hadn't. For him, there had been no better way of life, and he'd never questioned anything he was meant to accomplish with the family.

But even with their differences, they had enjoyed a few simple moments as brother and sister. Moments transformed into memories that she had long-since tucked away, but when the occasion arose, they were always retrieved with fondness. They were few in number and fleeting in duration, for they were always interrupted by the _call of duty—_another heist, another score, another win for the Royal Flush Gang. He had probably forgotten such times, but she hadn't. She couldn't.

Jack teaching her to read. Jack taking her hands and bringing her to take the first steps of her youth. Jack showing her how to ride a bicycle. Jack tucking her into bed. Jack reading her some stories before bidding her goodnight with a little kiss to her forehead, and a promise that he'd be there to wake her up in the morning.

Jack defending her in the early days after she'd been brought into the gang. Her techniques had been sloppy and would have earned her more than a few injuries...except Jack had been there. And for those injuries she had endured, he'd been right there to bandage them up and reassure her that in time, she'd get better.

Essentially, he had assumed all the duties that their parents were supposed to have performed. But there were a few moments when he had just been her brother, taking her away from their parents so she could have some taste of childhood, and he could remember what it was like to actually be a child, not just an accomplice in training.

As they walked down the sidewalk, she could smell the salt from the ocean drifting along the wind, and with it a memory surfaced.

A memory of golden sand beneath her bare feet as she hurried along the shore, playing a silly game with the turquoise waves: testing their swiftness by placing herself within their reach, and promptly leaping out of the way before they could touch her. Sometimes she won, sometimes they won. But she kept laughing. Kept smiling. And when she'd looked over her shoulder, Jack had been smiling too.

A memory of her small hands reaching out for a pretty little shell, pale pink on the inside, gold and orange blurred across the exterior surface. An item of simplistic beauty tossed ashore by the foamy waves. Turning back, she had pressed the shell to Jack's chest, not quite tall enough to reach his ear.

_I can hear the ocean!_, she had announced with glee. He'd complied and pressed it to his ear, then smiled.

_I hear your laughter_, he had replied. It seemed such a strange response, but it had brought tears of joy to her eyes for reasons that, even now, she couldn't quite understand. But that was how it had always been with them. A relationship that others didn't quite understand, but it had made perfect sense to them. Always had.

Silly, really, how happy such a memory could make her even now. Yet as she closed her eyes and listened to the wind, the crash of water against the docks met her seeking ears. The tiniest smile lifted her mouth.

"I can hear the ocean..." she wasn't fully aware of having spoken aloud. She probably wouldn't have ever been aware that she'd spoken if not for the sudden introduction of Jack's voice in her ears.

"I hear your laughter."

She felt a warmth blossom from the core of her being, spreading throughout her entire being until she was left feeling giddy and warm. Her limbs tingled with the wonderful sensation of happiness. Pure happiness. True happiness. A happiness unlike any other, for only the love of one sibling to another could possibly inspire it. Those who had never felt it simply couldn't understand it.

Her eyes turned to find Jack beside her. He was smiling.

Without hesitation, she brought her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. A tear might have slipped past her eyes as she hugged herself against her brother. Childlike, but somehow she knew he wouldn't object.

_I love you, big brother._

His lips kissed the top of her head, and his arms curled around her. Tenderness. She'd almost forgotten how it felt to be held by her brother. Almost.

But she hadn't forgotten, and even if she had, this moment was filled with memories and promises. This moment alone was irrefutable proof that nothing could break the bond they shared. Not their parents. Not even the hands of Time. Nothing.

_I love you, too. Always have. Always will._


End file.
